Meet my Grandparent
Sigvaldason Branch

Died 8:30 am.

About celebration of the 1st settler, Arni came later in 1878.

http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:gZe_ub6-AwEJ:www.vesturfarinn.is/minnsettlement.html+%C3%81rni+Sigvaldason&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us&client=firefox-a

Biographies OF early SETTLERS

Page 319

Before there was a village at Lake Benton he reported he cut hay where the main portion of the town now stands, and lie often went to the image of Marshfield to trade.

Ernest SIGVALDSON was born in Iceland May 12, 1847. In 1873 he emigrated to this country and settled in Milwaukee where he worked for three years in the railroad shops In 1876 he moved to Madison in Wisconsin where he attended the Academy for six months. From there he went to Michigan where be stayed a short time and thence to Winnepeg. Manitoba Canada, and worked for a time in a grocery store.

ln 1878 he came to Marshall Minnesota where he was married the same year to Miss Gudron Arason. Shortly after he settled on a farm in Limestone township, Lincoln county, where he resided until he moved to Lake Benton in 1899. Mr. Sigvaldson served as one of the supervisors when the township of Limestone was organized. He held the office of justice of the peace for sixteen years, that of town clerk fourteen years.

In 1898 he was elected to the office of clerk of court of Lincoln county which office he held until his death January 10, 1901.

unconfirmed if this deed is our earnest

Name:Earnest Sigvaldson Issue Date:20 May 1885 State of Record:Minnesota Acres:160 Accession Number:MN1530__.041 Metes and Bounds:No Land Office:Redwood Falls Canceled:No US Reservations:No Mineral Reservations:No Authority:May 20, 1862: Homestead EntryOriginal (12 Stat. 392) Document Number:3163 Legal Land Description:SectionTwpRangeMeridianCounties 20112-N44-W5th PMLincoln 20112-N44-W5th PM

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:3171463&id=I02211

Below added into Facts

from the Minneota Mascot, January 11, 1901: Arnie Sigvaldson Clerk of Court of Lincoln County Died Yesterday Arnie Sigvaldson died at Lake Benton at 8:30 o'clock yesterday morning, from cancer of the lip and throat. This was the sad but for some time expected news wired from the county seat of Lincoln county, yesterday forenoon. For fifteen years Mr Sigvaldson fought the dreaded disease that caused his death; repeated operations were performed at varying intervals by some of the leading medical experts of the century but with no other result than to postpone for a time the inevitable. For the past four months, deceased was confined to his bed and, with passive Christian fortitude, has suffered indescribable pain. Arnie Sigvaldson was born May 12, 1847, at Vopnafjord, Iceland, came to America in 1873, and located at Milwaukee, Wis. He spent some time as a student in the academic department of the University of Wisconsin. On June 8, 1878, he married Miss Gudrun Arason, and the same year came to Minnesota, making his home on the then barren prairies of Lincoln county. A hard worker, steady and industrious, he made a success of farming, and at his death owned one of the best farms in Lincoln county. In the election of 1898, Mr Sigurdson was elected to the office of Clerk of Court of Lincoln County, and since entering upon the discharge of the duties of that office, in January, 1899, has been a resident of Lake Benton. To make use of a common expression, Mr Sigvaldson was a man whom everybody liked. In the ability to gain and hold the confidence and respect of his fellow men he had few equals. A born leader of men, actuated at all times by the highest Christian motives, his advice was sought and followed and his example emulated by all who had the good fortune of coming under the indulgence of this excellent character. In his house Mr Sigvaldson was an ideal husband and father. His was in every sense of the word a model Christian home and all who partook of the hospitality there so generously dispensed, could be but impressed with the fact that their host's was a model household. But there is another side of his character which helped to make him the popular leader of his community, and that was his ever cheerful disposition. Seldom did Mr Sigvaldson indulge in frowns, but on the contrary, always greeted his friends and acquaintances with a smile that showed its owner was a man who preferred to lead his fellow men to view life with a hopeful spirit. In church affiliations, Mr Sigvaldson was a Lutheran, being a member of the Icelandic church of that denomination in Lincoln county. In church matters he was a sincere, untiring and hard worker and the congregation of which he was a member, as well as the other congregations of the same nationality in this neighborhood, will long miss his encouraging voice and wise counsel from their deliberations. In short, Mr Sigvaldson was "one of nature's noblemen." A wife and seven children are left to mourn a beloved husband and father. The funeral will take place tomorrow from Lake Benton, and the remains interred in the Icelandic cemetery of the Icelandic church, located near the Sigvaldson farm. If the [missing words] from here intend to go on to attend the funeral. The funeral services at the church will begin at one o'clock p m. Hundreds of mourning friends will gather to pay their respects to the memory of this loved comrade, who has gone from the church militant to the church triumphant, and to deposit in its last resting place the earthly habitation of a soul that has joined the rejoicing hosts in realms of everlasting life.

Father: Sigvaldi JOHNSON b: 28 NOV 1820 in Iceland

Mother: ARNFRIDA b: BEF 1830 in Iceland

Marriage 1 Gudrun ARASON b: 4 MAY 1848 in Iceland

- Married: 8 JUN 1878 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (11)

Children

Skapti Aaron SIGVALDSON b: 12 APR 1879 in Limestone Township, Lincoln County, Minnesota

2. Paul Thorvaldur SIGVALDSON b: 10 AUG 1880 in Limestone Township, Lincoln County, Minnesota

3. Thora Jonina SIGVALDSON b: 20 APR 1882 in Limestone Township, Lincoln County, Minnesota Julia G. SIGVALDSON b: ABT 1884 in MN Maria Jakobina SIGVALDSON b: 23 DEC 1885 in Limestone Township, Lincoln County, Minnesota Frank SIGVALDSON b: 7 MAY 1887 in MN Jon SIGVALDSON b: 15 MAY 1889 in Limestone Township, Lincoln County, Minnesota Palina Sigurbjorg SIGVALDSON b: 28 OCT 1893 in Limestone Township, Lincoln County, Minnesota Vigfus SIGVALDSON b: 25 FEB 1894 in Limestone Township, Lincoln County, Minnesota

sources:

1. Title: minneota icelanders.FTW
Repository:
Media: Other
Text: Date of Import: Mar 17, 2001

2. Title: minnesota islanders.FTW
Note: ABBR minnesota islanders.FTW
Note: Source Media Type: Other

Repository:
Note:
Text: Date of Import: May 29, 2001
33. Title: State of Minnesota Death Cards
Author: Minnesota Vital Statistics

Repository:
Note: Minnesota History Center
Media: Microfilm

4. Title: 1910 Federal Census
Repository:
Media: Book Page: MN, Lincoln County, Limestone. Page 105B

5. Title: 1880 Federal Census
Repository:
Media: Book

6. Title: 1885 State of Minnesota Census
Author: State of Minnesota
Repository:
Note: Minnesota History Center
Media: Census

7. Title: 1895 Minnesota Census
Repository:
Note: Minnesota History Center
Media: Census

8. Title: Lincoln County Naturalization Records Index 1878-1951
Repository:
Note: Minnesota History Center
Media: Civil Registry

9. Title: Cemetery Research
Author: Rebecca Davidson
Publication: None
Note: I visited the cemeteries and recorded everything on every tombstone.
Note: 1st person
Repository:
Note: on site
Media: Tombstone

10. Title: Minneota Mascot
Publication: March 25, 1898
Repository:
Note: Minnesota History Center
Media: Microfiche
Page: January 11, 1901

11. Title: Minneota Mascot
Publication: March 25, 1898 Repository:
Note: Minnesota History Center
Media: Microfiche
Page: January 11, 1901
Note: Minneota Mascot, January 11, 1901.

Árni Sigvaldason and Jón Júlíus Jónsson of Winnipeg visited New Iceland to sell 115 sacks of flour
http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:Qmx6zozFy4gJ:www.telusplanet.net/public/dgarneau/sigurd.htm+Pall+Thorvaldur+SIGVALDASON&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=firefox-a

He was on the Queen and Borg.

THE VOYAGE TO AMERICA
Emigrants had to sell their property, such as sheep, houses, and
farms, and take with them only what they could convey as baggage to the
nearest seaport, where they awaited the coming of a ship to transport
them. The wait often extended into weeks. Some of the ships were very
primitive, such as the Queen, which was to take on 165 passengers at
Akureyri August 4, 1873. It was mainly designed to transport horses and
conditions aboard were so apalling that several emigrants refused to
baord. Conditions may have improved after the unloading of 230 horses
at Aberdeen.
SOURCE

Vesturfarinn -
Written by Guðni Júlíus Oleson for "Saga Íslendingar í Vesturheimi" (History of Icelanders in the West), Vol. V. Edited by Tryggvi J. Oleson, Dr. Phil. Publ. in Reykjavík, 1953 by Bókaútgáfa Menningarsjóðs. English translation by Cathy Ann Josephson, Vopnafjörður, 2003.

“The Minnesota Settlement”
In 1875 the settlement of New Iceland began, and in the same year the groundwork was laid for the Icelandic settlement in Minnesota when the first Icelandic settler took land along the Yellow Medicine River in Lyon County after driving his oxen 500 miles from Wisconsin. In his wake came a steady stream, and within two or three years the farmland in the Eastern Settlement (the Westerheim/Yellow Medicine area) was settled, very soon expanding westward into Lincoln County.

The First Settler
The man known as the first settler was Gunnlaugur Pétursson, born at Hákonarstöðum in Jökuldal on 10 Sept. 1830. His family had farmed there for many years, said to be about nine or ten generations. When he was 27 years old, Gunnlaugur married Guðbjörg Jónsdóttir Einarsson. Jón´s wife was Guðný Sigfúsdóttir of Snjóholt. Gunnlaugur took over the farming of Hákonarstöðum from his father, a large operation, until he left Iceland in 1873, rather bent with age and labors. He was among the first Icelanders who left East Iceland for the New World, said to have left with some means. Gunnlaugur went first to Wisconsin and was there about two years. In that area were many Scandinavians, and many of them had decided to head further west. At that time much land was becoming available for homesteading in western Minnesota. Many people were heading there, and with this stream of settlers was Gunnlaugur, in May, 1875. He moved all his family and possessions in a wagon pulled by oxen. After traveling about 500 miles, after three weeks time, he arrived in Lyon County, and took land on the banks of the Yellow Medicine River. He named his farm Hákonarstaður. He was the first Icelander who took land in Minnesota, and he lived in that prosperous area until his death. His wife died in 1898, and Gunnlaugur died 4 May 1909. The Icelanders in Minneota commemorated the fiftieth year of settlement with a celebration at Hákonarstöðum on 23 Aug. 1925, with Gunnlaugur Pétursson and his wife specially honored as pioneers. The festivities were held in a lovely grove which Gunnlaugur had planted and where summer gatherings were often held annually, and were attended by many Minnesota Icelanders as well as many people from the area. There was hymn-singing, a prayer, and the pastor of the Icelanders, séra Guttormur Guttormsson, delivered a short address. The legislator from Lyon County, Jón Gíslason, was master of ceremonies. P. V. Peterson (of Lincoln County) and Sigbjörn S. Hofteig (Lyon County), both early settlers, spoke about the early years in those settlements. Others who spoke were Jón Gíslason, legislator (son of Björn Gíslason from Grímsstöðum in the Mountains), professor Sigurður H. Peterson from Cornwallis, Oregon (the son of Westerheim settlers), Mrs. J. A. Josephson (Guðný Hofteig), Björn B. Gíslason, lawyer, and Gunnar B. Björnson, newspaperman. María G. Árnason (poetess and sister of Þorsteinn Oddsson, real estate agent in Winnipeg) read one of her poems, and Jón Runólfsson the poet read an older poem. Jón was often on a long visit to the Minnesota Icelanders. Kristine Gunnlaugsson, Dora Askdal and Marjorie Kompelien, all of Icelandic origin, sang. Marjorie Kompelien, dressed in the Icelandic “faldbúningi” which is the national dress with the white head covering, sang the Icelandic national anthem, “Ó, guð vors lands.” There was also singing by others of the settlement.

Some of the Oldest Settlers
... As has been said, Gunnlaugur Pétursson from Hákonarstöðum in Jökuldal was the first Icelander who homesteaded land in Minnesota, settling in 1875. In the settlement history of the Icelanders in Minnesota in Almanak Ó. S. Thorgeirsson in 1900, most of those who had come in the first years were still there, and included: 1876: Sigmundur Jónatansson from Þingeyjarsýslu, Guðmundur Henry Guðmundsson of Dalasýslu, Eiríkur from Þingeyjarsýslu, Guðmundur Henry Guðmundsson of Dalasýslu, Eiríkur H. Bergman, Kristinn Ólafsson and Arngrímur Jónsson from Galtastöðum in Norður-Múlasýslu. 1877: Halldóra Jónsdóttir, a widow with two sons, Snorri Högnason from Ósi in Breiðdal in Suður-Múlasýslu, Jón Kristjánsson from Gröf in Eiðaþinghá and Guðmundur Pétursson from Langhúsum in Fljótsdal. 1878: Jósef Jósefsson from Haugsstöðum in Vopnafirði, Sigbjörn Sigurðsson (Hofteig) from Hofteig in Jökuldal, Jón Arngrímsson, the father.

DOC_0076_FR Nonni_Sigvaldasons
From Nonni jonsson - Email, 8/8/2009 11:23 AM
I have taken this from Cathy Josephsons info for you to look at. (maybe see if I have the correct family here? )
Nonni

Árni Sigvaldason vinnumaður 25 Hof 1873 Minnesota Vfs

Árni: f. 12 maí 1847, Búastöðum; d. 10 jan. 1901, Lake Benton, Minn. K.h.: Guðrún Aradóttir frá Þingeyjarsýslu. (Sjá: Símon Páll Sigvaldason)

Mannalát: For.: Sigvaldi Jónsson & Arnfríður Jónsdóttir (d.1860). To Am. 1873, to Minnesota 1878. In 1878, married Guðný Aradóttir of

Hringveri, Þingeyjarsýsla. Alm.

Maria Jakobina Parents: Arni & Guðrún Sigvaldason b.23 Dec.1885, c.23 June 1886

Sponsors: Sigriðr Gislason, Kr. Gislason LS

Frank Parents: Arni Sigvaldason, Gudrun Aradottir b.7 May 1887, c.18 Sep. 1887

Sponsors: Gudj. Oli Arngrims., G. S. Sigurdsson LS

Jon Parents: Arni & Gudrun Sigvaldson b.15 May 1889, c.30 May 1889

Sponsors: Thorlak Peters., Johannes Peters. LS

Pálina Sigurborg Parents: Arni & Gudrun Sigvaldsson b.28 Oct. 1893, c.26 Nov. 1893

Sponsors: Stefan Sigurdson, Bjarni Jones LS

Árni Sigvaldason from Búastöðum in Vopnafirði, born there 12 May 1847, was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable players in the group of pioneers and one of the first who moved west. He came alone to the west in 1873; was first in Milwaukee, Wisc., and had toilsome work there. He did well, and collected a bit of money. This went well because he was good-tempered and intelligent. Before long, he went to Madison, Wisc., and entered a school there for a time. He met some good men there, and one was Rasmus B. Anderson who was part of the “Northmen” religious society. This had a great effect on Árni and strengthened his faith; he was all his life concerned with matters of church and faith. But circumstances did not allow him to continue his schooling for long. He left Madison, went to New Iceland, and was there and in
Winnipeg for a year. Then he went south again and took land in Lincoln County in Minnesota, and was one of the first Icelanders in the western settlement; that was in
1878. He was a much-valued leader there until his death, in both visionary and in practical matters, and a supporter in most community matters in his area. Both
Icelanders and Americans approached him for help in troubles. Árni was long a justice of the peace, and court clerk for Lincoln County in 1898. He moved then to Lake Benton, but kept one foot on his farm, which he continued to operate. For 15 years he bore patiently the cancer which took his life; he sought the best of medical care, but
without success. He died in Lake Benton 10 Jan. 1901. His parents were Sigvaldi Jónsson, who came west and died here, and Arnfríður Jónsdóttir, who died in Iceland.

His brother was Sigurður Sigvaldason, known by most Western Icelanders; was well-educated and a teacher for many years, but in later years worked as a missiouary and
sold bibles. He was said to be a natural at this kind of work. He traveled many times to Iceland, and died there at a nursing home in Reykjavík some years ago. He was a
beloved and intelligent man.

Árni´s wife was Guðrún Aradóttir from Þingeyjarsýsla, sister of Benedikt of Kjalvík in the Víðines settlement of New Iceland, of Skafta who was a pioneer in New
Iceland and Argyle, and Guðný who died at Argyle 10 Mar. 1901. Their children were eight: one died young, and María Jakobína, who married Guðbrandur Einarson of Glenboro, died 12 Oct. 1931; Skafti died 4 Sept. 1952. Still living are: Júlía in St. Paul; Pauline (Mrs. Armstrong) in Winnipeg; Jón and Frank in Longmont, Colorado
where they operate a big petroleum business. Before they moved south, they were farmers near Glenboro, Man. Árni named his farm in Minnesota Bústaði. Páll, Árni´s brother, died at Betel Home 10 Sept. 1928, 75 years old, religious and gentle, according to séra Sigurður Ólafsson. Most of his life was spent in Minnesota.

In Heimskringla, 8 Feb. 1906, said that Sigurður Sigvaldason, Árni´s brother, had recently given the newspaper $100 to be given to the leprosy hospital in Iceland. – SÍV

1880 US Census-Lincoln County, Minnesota - Limestone:

Earnest Shevaldson 32 Farmer

Gudrun wife 31 Keeping house

Aaron son 1

Jensen father 60

Sigurlaugur Sigurdson 44 Farmer

“Birerg” wife 34 Keeping house

1885 Minn. Census-Lincoln Co. – Limestone:

E. Sigvaldron 37

G. 36

Aaron 6 b.Minn.

Torva 3 b.Minn.

Julia 1 b.Minn.

S. J. 65 b.Minn.

1895 Minn. Census-Lincoln Co. – Limestone:

Earnest Sigvaldson 48 Farming. MN&Dist.: 17y,2m.

Gudrun 47 Farm labor

Skapti A. 16 b.Minn.

Thora J. 13 b.Minn.

Julia G. 11 b.Minn.

Mary J. 9 b.Minn.

Frank 8 b.Minn.

John 6 b.Minn.

Paulina S. 1 b.Minn.

Edna Johnson 15 b.Minn.

Sigvald Johnson 75 MN & Dist.: 15y., 8 m.
End DOC 0076, Nonni Jonsson

SOURCES:
1. (Almanak, O.S.Th. 1940, p. 27-28. - Saga Isl. in Vesturheimi, IV, 194, Logberg Febr.10th, 1949),
SEC.1 (Aunt) Em Einarson Enns-1954 translated Icelandic Papers, Kristin Jonsdottir, Ljosvallagata, Reykjavik, Iceland.

2. Online Resource, http://www.vesturfarinn.is/EmYear.html.

3. Online Resource, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mnlincol/Icelanders/Icelanders.htm.

New resource from Lilja Kernestead. She emailed three pages out of a book which mentions Triggvi Arason and Gudbrandur Einarson.


Email to Lilja,
[Wedding of] Sigvaldson-Amundson

Frank Sigvaldson and Miss Alice Amundson were married at the Norwegian Lutheran church here last Wednesday evening [June 11, 1919]. Rev E J Hinderlie read the marriage service according to the Lutheran ritual.

The bridegroom was attended by Rudolph Amundson and the bride by Miss Pauline Sigvaldson. The bride was charmingly gowned in white organdie, with veil and carried roses.

After the ceremony at the church a wedding supper was served at the home of the bride’s parents, Mr and Mrs Greggar Amundson; the guests consisted of immediate relatives only.

Mr and Mrs Sigvaldson left on the night train from Minneapolis where they will go to Winnipeg and thence to Glenboro, Manitoba, where Mr Sigvaldson is now operating a farm.

This marriage unites two pioneer families of this locality, Mr and Mrs Amundson, the parents of the bride, being among the early settlers of the township of Nordland, Lyon county, and the late Arni Sigvaldson and his wife, parents of the bridegroom, being among the first of the Icelandic settlers of the township of Limestone, Lincoln county. No families in this locality are better known, nor have been more prominent in the development of their respective neighborhoods than these two, and the best that we could say of the son and daughter, whose union of hearts has joined these two families, is that we know them to be children worthy of the parental names they bear.

We congratulate Mr and Mrs Sigvaldson and trust that they may prosper and enjoy life.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mnlincol/mnmascotmarrlincoln1919.htm

Roy

On 4/24/2011 10:23 AM, Lilja Kernested wrote:

Gifting
Miss Helen Janet Patterson dg Elmer Lawrence Arason, bæði frá Cypress
River, Man.,
voru gefin saman í homeland s. 1. laugardag 10 þ. m. Séra Philip M.
Pétursson framkvæmdi athöfnina. Brúðurin er af %kozkum ættum, en
brúðguminn er sonur þeirra hjóna Tryggva S. Arasonar og Olive
Thordarson, konu hans. Ungu hjónin voru aðstoðuð af Miss Isabelle
Pattersón systur brúðarinnar, og Bryan H. Arason bróður brúðgumans, bæði
einnig frá Cypress River.

SIG'S SERVICE TEXACO STATION
Ref. on your website: 411 GRANT ST / Sigvaldson House – built 1928
This craftsman-style home was owned by Frank and Alice Sigvaldson who lived there from 1928 to 1962.  Frank and his brother John established a successful service station and wholesale oil company at the corner of 5th and Main, which they operated for many years under the name "Sig's Service Station".  The station featured Sieberling tires and Texaco products.